Toronto Cicada Encounter
I hear the voice
Of every creature and plant,
Every world and sun and galaxy--
Singing the Beloved's name!
- Hafiz
Taking a moment to share an encounter with an Ismaili elder/senior who I met in the lobby of the building where we live, sparked by another encounter had minutes before singing with the cicadas in the garden of the property.
Me: Ya Ali Madad
She: Mawla Ali Madad
We: Catching up on how we are doing as we walk down the elevator
Me: Can I show you this video I just made?
She: Sure!
We: Stop in the hallway and listen/watch.
She: You're singing with the sound? That sound is there?
Me: Yes. It's the sound of cicadas, this insect that makes an amazing buzzing sound in the trees. It has beautiful translucent wings.
She: I thought the sound was the traffic noise.
Me: It's these amazing insects. You want to go outside and hear them?
She: YES!
We: Walk outside in anticipation. Catching up on life and health as we walk to the garden gazebo adjacent to the treed area. I could almost feel her heart racing in excitement.
She: Stops to listen.
Me: Stop to listen.
We: In silence hearing the ebbing, flowing crescendos and decrescendos of the cicadas.
Me: Singing to the pitch: Ya Ali tu(n) rahem kar, Ya Mawla, tu(n) fazal kar.
She: Sings with me: Ya Ali tu(n) rahem kar, Ya Mawla, tu(n) fazal kar.
We: Uplifted in the new moment of us that has just been made.
She: You know...When you hear the sounds...even the birds, the insects, nature is praising Allah. Even leaves that have fallen to the floor, they are all praising Allah, calling His name.
We: One...in heart, in sound, in nature, in remembrance. Walk back to the building with a new sense of awareness of who we are. We enter the elevator, and she departs a few floors before I do.
Me: Okay Good night, Ya Ali Madad.
She: Mawla Ali Madad. Can you send me that video you made please?
Me: Okay, sure! The door closes.
Reflecting as the elevator climbs a few more floors....a moment to cherish.
Shukranlillah Al-hamdulillah.
